The story of the Powell, like that of many postwar American independents, is a fascinating one, and even if you’ve heard the basics of it before, as I’m sure most Hemmings Blog readers have, there’s still some interesting tidbits to glean from Jim Benjaminson’s account of the Powell in SIA #84, December 1984, such as the Powell brothers’ reasoning behind building the pickups and station wagons, or the motorhomes that they built before they started production of the pickups.

By the way, for those of you Powell enthusiasts who are considering a pilgrimage to the Powell brothers’ shop, it appears that the building at the address mentioned in the story, 5903 Firestone Boulevard in Compton, is still standing.

4 Responses to “SIA Flashback – When is a Plymouth not a Plymouth? When it’s a Powell!”

When I saw the photo at this article’s beginning I thought about how blatantly Powell had borrowed styling cues from International Harvester.
It turns out that if anyone was stealing styling cues from anyone, International Harvester was the thief.
During his decades long tenure at Ford, Brooks McCormack of the Corn-binder McCormacks stormed into my father’s office (on Toughy Avenue in Chicago) demanding to be connected to Henry Ford II.
My dad told him to hike on over to his own office and call Ford himself! My father was not impressed with Brooks McCormack.

@Mal@: I love Powells and currently own two; a pickup and a wagon. Having established that, I honestly don’t believe that styling was ever really a consideration for the vehicles. What makes them so interesting to people today is that appearance is pretty much devoid of any style. It is so non-threatening that it almost forces you to smile, and that’s even before you pull out the long storage tubes.